from the archive

Magazine

French farmer finds happiness in life before machines

When farm machinery revolutionized French agriculture in the years after World War Two, a young Jean-Bernard Huon turned his back on the new technology.
Half a century later Huon still uses oxen to plough his fields, determined to preserve an ancestral, peasant way of life.

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French farmer Jean-Bernard Huon, 70, looks on as he works on his land near his farm in Riec-sur-Belon, France, October 25, 2017. STEPHANE MAHE/REUTERS